The present invention relates to a printer which can refers to a print image before a print operation and, more particular, to a printer which is designed to be able to decide whether a print operation is actually necessary or not before the print operation after transmission of a printer output (print image, data for generating a print image, or the like) to the printer.
Conventionally, when a document or the like formed by an information terminal such as a personal computer is to be printed by a printer, if a paper size or the like is erroneously specified, an inappropriate print may be obtained as a result, an unnecessary print operation may be executed. Furthermore, when color data is output to a monochrome printer, colors or the like are different from those of the color data. However, an inappropriate print or an unnecessary print is often known after the contents of the print result are checked. For this reason, sheets of paper cannot be disadvantageously prevented from being consumed by these inappropriate and unnecessary prints.
It is an object of the present invention to prevent an inappropriate print operation or an unnecessary print operation from being executed before an actual print operation by making it possible to refer to a print image before the print operation.